Idaho businessman convicted of tax evasion

A northern Idaho man who was convicted of two counts of failing to file corporate income taxes has now been convicted of two counts of income tax evasion.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Idaho says a Coeur d'Alene jury convicted 51-year-old Michael George Fitzpatrick on the tax evasion charges on Friday. He was convicted of failure-to-file in September.

Court records said Fitzpatrick operated two businesses selling products purported to help individuals eliminate credit card debt that had gross sales of over $9 million in 2003 and 2004.

At trial, federal prosecutors argued Fitzpatrick's corporations failed to report $3.7 million in income while Fitzpatrick failed to report $500,000 in income, resulting in a tax loss of nearly $1.4 million.